A gift from Reza Assar
We met @reza.assar on the first day of mutant vehicle registrations at Afrikaburn Out of the Blue. We were volunteering at the D.M.V to register mutants, and he was the photographer taking photos of the mutants under the famous D.M.V arches.
We very soon settled into "knowing each other". Only those who have been to Afrikaburn will understand how strangers become like family overnight. Those familiar faces, spaces and places that makes the desert "home" for a week.
We ran into each other and connected daily after that. About mutant vehicles, artworks, Afrikaburn, Burning Man and Vancouver (our favourite city in the world and Reza's home).
The evening before our artwork Best Friends burned, we were spending some final special moments with our creation when Reza found us, camera in hand.
There was something magical about that sunset, and way that the burn connects us so deeply with new friends.
When we returned to the default world and connected online I realised that Reza Assar dedicates his creative energy to document transformational gatherings all over the world, and has done so, since 2016. His "burner portraits" are pretty epic and it captures the essence of the energy of each burner so well.
Soon the most beautiful gift landed in my DM. A set of photos of me and my family, also known as Quagga Landing, with the Best Friends artwork.
Photographs gifted to you from Afrikaburn are the most precious gift. An image that has the power to teleport you back in time to a precious place, that existed for a fleeting moment only.
He recently wrote this on his channel; and it summed up the position of the photographer in the context of Afrikaburn so well.
I remember once asking a friend "Why do you think people are so drawn to watching others in their unfiltered state?" He answered, "Because deep down they want to witness what they don't believe they can have themselves" @reza.assar
His images from several years at Afrikaburn, Burning Man and other incredible events are just magical. Take a moment to check out his account via the link below
I look forward to seeing Reza next year again, or crashing at his place in Vancouver. Whichever comes first. Either way, the people you connect with at Afrikaburn have a way to never really leave your life after that.
